More Cardboard

This is what my work table looks like after a project:

Actually I don't think that picture even comes close to showing you how much of a mess it is - probably because you can't see the floor (which looks about the same as the table....)

I had a little bit of cardboard left and some scraps so I made an ATC and a tag:

World Traveler ATCs

I love making ATCs (artist trading cards). I think I do my best work on smaller spaces. These are easy and quick to make. I made this World Traveler set using one of my Tiny Ephemera Kits available in my Etsy store. It's the perfect amount of vintage materials to make 4 ATCs or create fun embellishments for scrapbooking or mini albums. For these I added some kraft cardstock from my own stash and some vintage photo distress ink and here is what I came up with:

Be Mine Frame

I found this frame the other day at a craft store while looking for a new project for the blog. I liked the detail and the fact that it was 3x2 (almost ATC size - and actually the frame lied it was more like 3 1/4 x 2 1/4 so even closer!). I thought this was the perfect project - I could rotate the ATCs in the frame depending on what was going on during the year. So first up is a Valentine's Day design:

Autumn in Paris

I made these ATCs (artist trading cards) for my Year of ATCs November - Autumn in Paris class that I taught last week. When I came home I was "reinspired" (is that a word ?- just go with it!) to make a tag using the same papers and stamps. Here is what I ended up with:
The ATCs:The Tag: This post is linked here:

Classes Next Week

I have a couple of classes coming up next week at Memories Galore in Richmond VA- Field of Memories Layout Tuesday October 12th from 6:30-8:30pm and Year of ATCs Glimpses of Nature Thursday October 14th from 6:30 - 8:30pm (not sure what ATCs are or what to do with them? Click here to find out!). If you are in the Richmond area I hope you will consider joining me!

A Year of ATCs Glimpses of Nature with Melissa Thiesse $20
** Only a few seats left!**

Come, learn the art of creating ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) in the continuation of this year-long series! Each month you’ll create four ATCs focusing on a variety of techniques. This class is perfect for ATC creators of all skill levels. Each class is individually priced and themed as follows:

October: Glimpses of Nature – Collage, distress ink, stamping

• West End: Thursdays Oct. 14th from 6:30-8:30pm

Field of Memories Layout with Melissa Thiesse $24

Bright papers and embellishments from Sassafrass’s Indie Girl line come together to create this one of a kind double page layout that is perfect for those pictures of lazy days in the park, taking in nature’s bounty and more. You’ll learn fabulous techniques like paper layering, working with stickers and a masking technique with Glimmer Mist.

• Brandermill: Tuesday, Oct. 12th from 6:30-8:30pm

• West End: Tuesday, Oct. 26th from 6:30-8:30pm

Fall Classes at Memories Galore

A Year of ATCs with Melissa Thiesse $20

Come, learn the art of creating ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) in the continuation of this year-long series! Each month you’ll create four ATCs focusing on a variety of techniques. This class is perfect for ATC creators of all skill levels. Each class is individually priced and themed as follows:

October: Glimpses of Nature – Collage, distress ink, stamping

November: Paris in November – Stamping, distress ink, canvas, Glimmer Mist

December: Christmas Delights – Canvas image transfer technique, working with stickers, Stickles

January: Winter Wishes – Distress ink, crackle paint, pens, stamping

• West End: Thursdays Oct. 14th, Nov. 11th, Dec. 9th and Jan. 13th from 6:30-8:30pm

Autumn Memories Layout with Melissa Thiesse $24

Crisp cool air, beautiful foliage—it’s no wonder autumn is my favorite time of year! Celebrate the season and create a whimsical double page layout perfect for your autumn memories. Using fun patterned papers from We R Memory Keepers, you’ll learn techniques like paper layering, working with stickers, doodling and making embellishments.

• Brandermill: Monday, Nov. 8th from 6:30-8:30pm

• West End: Tuesday, Nov. 9th from 6:30-8:30pm

Birthday Bash Layout Class with Melissa Thiesse $24

We all have them! Stacks of birthday pictures we have yet to scrap. Join Melissa to create this bright and fun double page birthday layout using cheerful papers from October Afternoon and Imaginisce. Learn unique and new ways to use your punches to make detailed embellishments you’ll want to create again and again!

• Brandermill: Tuesday, Dec. 7th from 6:30-8:30pm

• West End: Monday, Dec. 6th from 6:30-8:30pm

Field of Memories Layout with Melissa Thiesse $24

Bright papers and embellishments from Sassafrass’s Indie Girl line come together to create this one of a kind double page layout that is perfect for those pictures of lazy days in the park, taking in nature’s bounty and more. You’ll learn fabulous techniques like paper layering, working with stickers and a masking technique with Glimmer Mist.

• Brandermill: Tuesday, Oct. 12th from 6:30-8:30pm

• West End: Tuesday, Oct. 26th from 6:30-8:30pm

What can you do with an ATC?

As the Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) teacher at Memories Galore in Richmond, I get this question all the time. So to help all you newbies to ATCs, here is a little about what they are and what you can do with them.

First of all ATCs are 3.5 x 2.5 small works of art often times traded during swaps (usually a swap has a theme - for example Christmas - then each person makes a card for each person in the swap - so if there are 12 people participating each participant makes 12 of the same Christmas theme card and then swaps them with everyone else - leaving them with 12 different cards). In my Year of ATCs classes we make 4 cards a month with a theme I choose, then instead of trading them we keep them for ourselves. My classes are much more focused on learning new techniques and making little works of art to keep for yourself or give away as you choose.

So I'm sure you are thinking, "Ok I get it they are cute.. but what can I do with them??"

1. You can save them and store them in an album - they are the same size as baseball cards so many of my students store them in an album with baseball card sleeves (found at local office supply store)2. If you like to send cards they make perfect greeting or note card embellishments (or gift tags!) Because they already have a sentiment usually all they need is a piece of patterned paper behind them to fill the card out: (ATCs used in this photo are sneak peeks of December's class)3. If layouts are more your thing they make great embellishments for your scrapbook layouts. Again because there is often a sentiment on the ATC you can even use it as title for your page. You could also make a pocket on your page and use the ATC as a journal spot.4. You can use them to make mini albums. They make great cover art (as seen in photo below) or you can punch a hole in the top corner, add a binder ring and add photos to the back of the cards.5. Since they are tiny works of art, why not frame them? They would make a great and inexpensive gift (perhaps for Christmas? Or a friend's birthday?).(ATC used in this photo is a sneak peek of October's class)
That is just a small sampling of what you can do with them - I'm sure you can come up with a bunch more fantastic and creative uses for ATCs! If you live in the Richmond area come to Memories Galore this Saturday 10am -noon at our Brandermill store or 1:30-3:30 at our West End store for Class Kickoff. Class Kickoff is an open house event where you can meet teachers and see the projects we have created for the next 4 months. If you sign up for any of the classes on that day you will get 10% off the class fee and earn customer loyalty rewards. I will have my Year of ATC class samples there for October - January. Year of ATC classes are held once a month (it is a series but each class is priced separately so you can take the classes you really like). Year of ATC classes are only taught at the West End and are $20 each ($18 at class kickoff!) . Hope to see you there!

If this is your first time to my blog - Welcome! I would love for you to become a follower of my blog or my facebook page!(see link on right side of my blog!)

Creativity Project Day 14

Today I worked on finishing my classes for kickoff. More ATCs:

Creativity Project Day 12

I was so busy making stuff today I almost forgot to post about it! I am loving the ATCs (artist trading cards) I've been working on for class kickoff. They are the most detailed of all my ATC classes so far! Stay tuned for more sneak peeks and hope to see you at class kickoff on September 25th!

Creativity Project Day 9

I have been finishing up classes for next quarter at Memories Galore. So tonight you are getting a sneak peek of December's ATC (artist trading cards) class. Wouldn't these make the cutest tags for Christmas gifts??

The Last of the Puzzle Pieces...

I realized that I hadn't shown the puzzle pieces I got back from the recent puzzle swap I was in. I had the theme "Vintage Travel" and I was excited to see all the different pieces come back to me. I thought it turned out great!

Almost finished...

I thought I would wait until I was finished with all the puzzle pieces then post them. But there is one that I still haven't finished. So I am going to go ahead and post the other two anyways.
Shabby Chic:Vintage Travel (this was my theme): Other than that I've been working on class ideas for next kickoff and I wanted to make a travel journal for our trip to South Dakota. If you haven't seen it before you should check out my travel journal from last year.

Oh and I am going to try really really hard to post every day this week. So check back tomorrow and hopefully I will have something posted!!

More Puzzle Pieces...

Still working on the swap!

"It's the little things that make my happy": "Musical Elements":"Wizard of Oz" (note: I added more stickles after I took the picture, so imagine it more sparkly!)
Stay tuned... I have three more pieces to show and I've saved the best for last! Well...that's not completely true... one of them isn't complete yet so it may be good it may not be... haha! Oh and I will be bringing my pieces along with me to my classes in July so if you are in class you will get a chance to see them up close!

Puzzle Swap

Finally a new blog post! I have been wanting to blog but just have not had the time so I'm glad to finally be sitting down and making myself come up with a blog. And i think I have a good one filled with lots of pictures!!

I have been working on a puzzle swap lately. It's a lot like an ATC swap but instead of trading cards we trade puzzle pieces. It's a little complicated because we each get a blank puzzle with 12 pieces and a list of everyone's theme. Each person has a different theme so we are making 12 different pieces and then when we swap them everyone will have a complete puzzle with all the same theme but pieces from 12 different people. Thoroughly confused??

Usually when I do an ATC swap all my cards are exactly the same. So i wanted to have some sort of common element to all my puzzle pieces. I decided to do embellished doilies inspired by Christine Middlecamp. If you have never heard of her take a moment to check out her blog (see her may and july archives for her embellished doily tutorials). She is seriously fantastic and if I could magically wake up with someone else's scrapbook style I would want hers. So i decided to do these embellished doilies in an effort to teach myself her layered style.

Now on to the puzzle pieces! I have 6 of the 12 done. The first one's theme is "Pink and Green":

"Sand & Surf ":"Summer Fun":"Children":"Finding Joy":"Tween girls just want to have fun"
I'll post the rest when I get those done!!

Check out my facebook fan page here.

Snowman ATCs

The great thing about being snowed in is being able to get some scrapbooking done. Unfortunately for me that means I have a lot of unfinished projects laying around. I swear I have scrapbooking ADD. Here is one project I did finally finish: snowmen ATCs for an ATC swap I'm participating in. SEVENTEEN ATCs to be exact!! I used Martha Stewart Microbeads as the main element for my cards. I used scor-tape around the edges and then dumped the beads on top of that. I also used glossy accents to make snow spots and added beads to those as well.

Holiday ATCs (West End)

Last night was my last class of the quarter: Holiday ATCs in the West End. Everyone had a great time and it was interesting to see the different ATCs that people came up with from using the same materials. Here are a few pictures from last night:
Check back tomorrow for that sneak peek at what I'm teaching next quarter!!